Storyline

This story takes place in a typical American neighborhood, when some new neighbors come to live in the house next to Ray Peterson. These new people are really strange; nobody has ever seen them, their house is a real mess, and during the night you can hear weird noises from their basement. The only thing they know is their name: Klopeks. One day Walter (an old man of the neighborhood) suddenly disappears and everyone starts to suspect the Klopeks... Written by
Chris Makrozahopoulos <makzax@hotmail.com>

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The Klopek's house address is 669. When ray and Art use the heavy door knocker on their door the 9 slides down changing the Klopek's house number to 666 which is foretold in the King James Holy Bible. Revelations 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." A score is defined as 20 so threescore is 3 times 20. So the number of the Beast, some define this to mean the number of Satan or the devil, is 666. See more »

Goofs

Walter rides home in a car with Illinois plates. One scene shows mountains in the background. Before the end credits, the camera zooms out on a map placing them near Des Moines, Iowa. See more »

Quotes

Mr. Rumsfield:
Affirmative. That garbage is going nowhere. I say we wait till first light. Scope me.
See more »

Crazy Credits

At the end of the Universal logo, the camera zooms into Earth and to where the film takes place. See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

User Reviews

Originality can go a long way in movieland, as THE 'BURBS so perfectly illustrates. Tom Hanks is Ray Peterson, an average schmuck not sure what to do with his at-home vacation. He soon finds his excitement when he and his paranoid neighbors convince themselves the weirdos on the block are responsible for the strange disappearance of the neighborhood's beloved old man. So they do what any of us would do... break into their home to find proof of the dastardly deed.

So many critics charged that Hanks tarnished his reputation with this effort. But for the umpteenth time, the critics were just being overly critical. THE 'BURBS is a hilarious, well-written and wonderfully creative piece of work. It's the kind of movie Joe Dante (GREMLINS, Matinée) does best. He takes a situation we can all basically relate to, turns it upside down and shakes the hell out of it like a snow globe.

An unnecessarily heavy-handed ending is all that stands between THE 'BURBS and a 10-star rating. All of a sudden a fun little ride is derailed by an angry outburst and contrived syringe battle. If Dante had it to do over again, he surely would have come up with something more suitable (and humorous).

Of course THE 'BURBS is not for all tastes, but if you like the pre-PHILADELPHIA Hanks and are in the mood for something completely different, you won't want to mi

42 of 58 people found this review helpful.
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